


Missed Connection

by sartiebodyshots



Series: Though I'd Loved To Stay Forever, This Is Why I Can't Remain [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: F/F, Gen, Lesbian Courier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 11:08:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14893488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sartiebodyshots/pseuds/sartiebodyshots
Summary: August comes back from Zion, but things aren't quite like she expects at the Old Mormon Fort.





	Missed Connection

**Author's Note:**

> I made this a series, just because why not tbh.

Coming back from Zion isn’t the ordeal that coming back from the Sierra Madre was.  She had needed some time away, after letting Benny go and disposing of both Caesar and Mr. House, not to mention the surfacing of memories related to her dead brother.  That wasn’t what she had told her friends, but she thinks they had understood. At the very least, this time she had properly said goodbye and not disappeared for longer than she promised, even if she didn’t end up making the trip she had said.

When she strolls into Old Mormon Fort, it’s with a light step.  Zion had had its stressors and there had been a lot of killing, sure, but overall, it had been a peaceful trip.  Relatively speaking. 

There had also been that wild trip from the sacred datura root tea.  That had been fun, even when Joshua started spouting bible verses at her.  (Honestly? The bible verses were better with the help of the datura root)

“Hello friends, I’m home!” August chirps as she walks into Arcade’s tent.

All that greets her is silence.  There’s no one in the tent.

“Hello?” August says, as if Arcade and Veronica are hiding under the bed from her.  “Hm.”

August exits the tent, sweeping the grounds of the Old Mormon Fort.  Generally, if they’re not in Arcade’s tent, one of them will be chatting with one of the other Followers in the main area.  Or maybe they’re down at the Kings’.

“Hey, Julie,” August catches sight of the Follower leader and strides up to her.

“August!  You’re back,” Julie says.

“Sure am!  It’s good to see you,” August says.  “Have you seen Arcade or Veronica around?”

“We got a message from Goodsprings that they needed some help.  The Followers are spread too thin to reach out that far, but they wanted to help, so they left,” Julie says.

August’s heart leaps into her throat.  “Goodsprings? Is everything okay?”

“Nothing too serious, not to worry,” Julie soothes her.  “Just an issue with their water supply. They should be back any day now.  You are, of course, welcome to wait here. I’m sure Arcade won’t mind if you crash in his tent.”

“Thanks, Julie,” August says.  “Let me know if you need anything.  I’m pretty handy with a wrench, and I can fix people up pretty well, too.”

“Noted.  We can always use more hands around here, as you know,” Julie says. 

* * *

It’s funny, August muses as she lays in Arcade’s bunk that night, she never really thought about Arcade and Veronica having their own adventures without her.  Of course, she’s not vain enough to think that they sit around just waiting for her to return. But living life in Freeside is different than charging through the desert together.  

August quickly falls into a routine of asking Julie each morning where she needs help, and then going where dispatched.  She mends broken bones and broken piping, and spends her free time with Julie or the other Followers.

They like her well enough, and it’s a pleasant way to wait for her friends.  But as she waits, the free time at night gives her a chance to think. 

Still… August realizes with a jolt what she feels is what Arcade had described to her after escaping from the Sierra Madre.  Fear of uncertain abandonment. 

Or maybe… not quite.  What she’s feeling is guilt.  Guilt, because she’s abandoned people before.  If she had any family other than her (dead) brother Lawrence, any friends at all, she’s abandoned them.  She doesn’t even know who she’s left behind. Her fractured memory won’t let her remember. 

Is there someone out there who wonders if she’s dead?  A mother who wishes she’d send a letter? A friend she was supposed to meet up with? A sister she’s supposed to be looking out for, better than she did Lawrence?

The vague impressions of her childhood she has- Lawrence laughing at something she’s said, the both of them throwing rocks into a forested wasteland unlike anything she’s seen around New Vegas, being submerged in warm, radiation tinged water- don’t give her clues if her parents are alive or dead today.  Even if they’re dead, she must’ve known  _ someone _ else back wherever she came from.  

It’s not a good thought.

Still, her days are mostly pleasant, and she likes the people of Freeside.  Sometimes she runs into the Strip to run an errand or two, but she still spends most of the time in Freeside.  

* * *

“There’s a woman in my bed,” a familiar voice wakes August up a week and a half later.

“Now that’s something I never thought I’d hear,” another voice says.

August blinks her bleary eyes open, looking up into Arcade’s bemused face, Veronica hovering right behind him.  

“Mmm,” August says.  “Hey, guys.”

“That’s my bunk,” Arcade says.

“Julie said it was okay,” August says, stretching a little before sitting up.  “I was just waiting for you two to get back from your adventure to Goodsprings.”

“I had a fascinating chat with Doctor Mitchell,” Arcade says dryly.  “Turns out you weren’t lying about the whole shot in the head thing.”

“Told ya.  Good ol’ Doc Mitchell.  Love that guy.” August grins at them, and she gets to her feet, fingers brushing over the prominent scars on her forehead.  “We should swap stories before we hit the road again. You can apologize for all your disbelief.”

“Hm, we’ll see,” Arcade says.  “How was New Canaan?”

“Well,” August gives a high, awkward laugh, “the caravan got slaughtered, and I got caught in a tribal war in Zion with strange marital disagreement overtones instead.  Zion’s pretty, though, which was nice.”

Veronica and Arcade both give her a long stare.  

“How do you  _ always _ end up in these situations?” Arcade asks.

“I’m just real lucky like that,” August says, clapping them both on the shoulder.  “Come on. Drinks are on me.”

“It’s eight in the morning,” Arcade points out.

“Eh, most of the clocks got stopped when the bombs fell.  Time is fake,” August points out. “The Atomic Wrangler is always open.”

“The woman has a point,” Veronica says, “and I am parched.”

Arcade seems to take that as a good enough reason, giving a shrug and a nod.  “We do have a lot of stories to tell.”

There’s a warmth in her chest as they all make their way over to the Wrangler.  It’s good that her friends are getting along without her. 

(It’ll be easier that way, if she disappears and becomes someone new again.)

**Author's Note:**

> I would've liked more of Arcade and Veronica, but like.......... I really liked the thought of them getting up to their own adventures without August while she's gone.


End file.
